Seeing Double
by adsiderum
Summary: In an unfortunate encounter between Wren and a drunken Levi, Cath becomes suspicious that Wren is trying to steal Levi from her. Can the twins ever get back to the way they were before?


**A/N:** This is a story that I wrote from Gryphon97's prompt that was posted on Keep Calm and Write Fanfiction's forum thread, Take A Prompt, Leave a Prompt. This is a Fangirl forum that I just started and it would be great if you were to stop by and check it out!

Enjoy the story! :3

* * *

**Seeing Double**

Wren sat on the edge of Cath's narrow dorm bed, swinging her feet back and forth underneath her. She dug into the back pocket of her jeans for her phone and for what must have been the tenth time in the last minute, checked for new messages. Why was Cath not responding? For the past couple of days, she had been trying to contact her twin. She needed to talk to Cath. Not in a few weeks, but right then. After sending a few too many texts and leaving even more messages on her voicemail, Wren had left her dorm room, grabbed Cath's emergency key, and started the trek across campus. Cath would have to return sometime – even if she had to wait a while.

Ten minutes into her adventure, Wren was beginning to doubt her logic. Yes, Cath would have to come back, but after how long? Thirty minutes? Four hours?

_Ughh._ She didn't have that kind of time. Alejandro was coming by to pick her up in – Wren lit up her phone's screen once more to check the time – three hours. And she needed to have everything figured out by then.

Where. The. _Hell_. Was. Cath?!

Wren stood up, the floorboards beneath her feet protesting, and began pacing the small dorm room. She walked to the door, then across to the window where she pressed her forehead to the glass. The warmth of the springtime sunshine soothed her anxiety slightly as she scanned the green quad, squinting to see the faces of each one of the students that were outside enjoying the warm weather. Cath was nowhere to be seen. Wren spun around and walked back towards the dorm's door, then to the window. Cath was still not there.

An annoyed snort passed out through Wren's nose and she sat back down on Cath's bed. _Where was she?_

Wren's eyes wandered around the dorm room, searching desperately for something to do. It didn't have to be much; didn't even have to be terribly exciting, just something to pass the time. There. She saw it. On the floor, tucked away in the corner of Cath's room, her backpack lay unzipped and the edge of her laptop poked out the top. Its presence made Wren smile despite of herself. Cath hardly ever let it out of her sight for long. She would be back before long.

Maybe if she was lucky, Wren might have a few more hours of entertainment while she waited. She reached over to grab the computer and opened up the computer's lid. The cursor blinked in the password bar and Wren began to type: sim0nbaz. Maybe, just maybe, Cath hadn't changed her password since last year – the last time Wren had opened her laptop. A chime sounded and she was in. A few windows were already open and trying not to invade her sister's privacy too much, she quickly shut them.

All except for one.

The cursor hovered over the red "x" in the upper right hand corner of the Word document, but she couldn't bring herself to close the remaining window. It was Cath's newest chapter that she had been working on – Wren would know. Even though she had stopped helping Cath with her writing, she was still following the story and with each new chapter posted, Wren would just about drop everything to read it.

Quickly, Wren scanned over the first chapter. Who cared about Cath's privacy, anyway? If she hadn't wanted anyone to read her writing, she wouldn't have posted her stories to the internet. That's where it would end up in a few hours, so she wasn't hurting anybody reading just a little preview. It still felt weird reading her sister's work without any permission….

Wren shrugged. Cath just wouldn't find out, in that case. She moved the cursor off of the red "x" in the corner and allowed herself to be immersed in Simon's world of the Mages. Out of habit, Wren couldn't stop herself from fixing a few grammatical errors (it was obvious that Cath hadn't sent her work to her Beta yet), adding a few words to some sentences here and there, and in one case, an entire paragraph. Cath wouldn't mind, right?

Soon enough the hours flew by and Wren, so focused on Cath's chapter, had just about forgotten the real reason that she was there: Alejandro.

Heavy, uneven footsteps echoed down the hallway approaching the dorm room, but Wren's attention didn't waver from the laptop screen until the door flung open.

"Cath! Cath-Cath… Caaaather," Levi lurched into the room, barely avoiding falling flat on his face.

"How charming…" Wren remarked, raising her eyebrows in his direction. "You must that boy Cath is so _fond_ about." How could a person be this drunk so early in the day? It was only… Wren checked the bottom right hand corner of the computer screen. _Six o'clock?!_ Shit! Alejandro was probably at her dorm right now, knocking on the door and wondering where she had gone.

Wren fumbled around on the bed, searching for her phone. Where had she put it? She needed to let Alejandro know that she would only be a little late. She lifted up the pillow. Perhaps it had slipped under there, but it was still nowhere to be found. Wren shrugged. Maybe blowing the guy off once would be good for him – to remind him that she shouldn't be taken for granted. _Alejandro. _She still had no idea what she was going to do about him. That was what she had been hoping to talk to Cath about. She had no clue how to confront him. How to ask him about that… _other girl_ she had seen him walking with. And laughing with. The girl that was so much prettier than she was. Of course, she had asked Courtney, but she needed actual advice – not to just "sleep with him". That would _not_ make it all better, Wren knew.

She also knew that Cath would be the only one who would give her sound advice. Her sister was the only one who had her head far enough out of the sand to be even slightly practical. She needed her sister. Right now.

"Hey. Where's Cath?" Wren asked.

"Cath… Cathode Ray. Hey, Cath. Want to hear a joke?" Levi responded, making his way towards Wren. He stumbled and started to fall face first on top of Wren, but she caught him and tried to set him upright. She groaned. Given all of her experience, she should have known that when a guy was this drunk, there was no way you could ever get any sort of information out of them.

"Cath, listen. You're gonna laugh." Levi went slightly limp and slid out of Wren's grasp. He now had her completely pinned to the bed, the weight of his body making her unable to move.

"Get off of me!" Wren shouted. There was something that he said, though, that she mulled over in her mind. Something that didn't make sense…

Wait.

_Cath?!_

Did he think that _she_ was _Cath_? No. It couldn't be.

"I'm not Cath. I'm her twin," Wren tried letting him know, but it was no use. Levi was convinced. Wren was (apparently) now Cath.

"Cath, Cathode ray. You're the Cathode to my Anode." Levi let out a barking laugh. "Get it? _Cath_ode? Ha, I made a funny."

"Yeah, I get it. Very funny. Now get the hell off me," Wren was unable to hide the desperation in her voice anymore. She had to figure out what to do, but first, how to get out of here.

"Aw, Cathode! That makes me sad." Levi shook his head like a little kid and pouted his lips. "Not until you kiiiiiiissss me," he sang.

"There is no fucking way I'm doing that!" Wren shouted. "I am _not_ Cath. She is my _sister_. What part of that doesn't make sense in that dense little pea you have as a brain. You are my sister's boyfriend. There's _no way_ I'm going to kiss you!" She struggled, but Levi was too heavy for her tiny frame to move over, even an inch.

"But Caaaath…"

"I. Am. Not. Cath!" Wren screeched.

"Oh, you're so silly," Levi cooed as if he was talking to a little puppy. "Of course you're Cath! Only Cath typitty-tipes on Cath's laptop."

Before Wren knew what was going on, she felt Levi's lips press against hers. He tasted of beer and even though he was so drunk, it was good. _Hell_. She hated herself for thinking that about her sister's boyfriend.

Her sister….

"Ahem."

Wren opened her eyes (yes, she had even closed them) to see Cath staring down at the two of them, her arms crossed and her eyes shooting daggers into her head.

"Cath, trust me. It's not what it seems. Levi's kinda… really, _really_ drunk and he fell on me," Wren tried to explain.

"Oh, and you expect me to believe that when he fell, your lips lined up perfectly?" Cath shot back at her.

"No. That's…" Wren did her best to try to laugh, but the weight of the situation made it come out sounding hollow and wooden. "That's actually quite a funny story."

"I'm sure it is." The sarcasm – and hatred – dripped from Cath's voice.

"You see, Levi actually thought that you were me. Er, well… more like that I was you." Wren smiled hopefully at Cath. Could she possibly be forgiven?

From the tears glistening in the corners of Cath's eyes, there was no way.

"How could you? My own sister. Kissing my boyfriend. Behind my ba-" Cath's voice cracked and she was unable to finish the word. "I hate you, Wren. I _hate_ you."

Levi decided that moment to stand up and after swaying for a moment, a confused look spread across his face. "Caaaath…. Why are there two of you? I'm seeing double. I think I'm sick. Caaaath? Can you take me to the hospi-pit-pititatal?"

"No, _Levi_. You're not sick. You're just a cheating bastard," Cath shouted and ran out the door, slamming it behind her so hard that the windows rattled.

"Cath? Why is Other Cath mad at me?" Levi could act like such a baby when he was this drunk. Wren made a mental note to herself to tell Cath how cute he could be, when this all blew over between the two of them. If it ever did. It was all up to her to make things right with her sister. If she didn't, Wren wasn't sure that she could ever quite forgive herself.

Wren shoved Levi over until he fell down on Cath's bed. Right on top of where her phone was hidden in one of the comforter's folds. "Sleep it off," Wren ordered. As she dashed out of the room after Cath, she didn't notice her phone ringing – Levi's alcohol-filled stomach blocked just about all of the sound coming from it.

* * *

"Cath! Wait! We need to talk," Wren called down the hallway, but Cath didn't turn to even look at her. Wren broke into a sprint, chasing after her. She didn't catch up to Cath until they were both out of the building and down the steps that led to the Quad's grassy lawn.

"Cath… stop," she said between gasps of air, but Cath just kept walking. Wren reached out and took ahold of her arm and twirled her around so that they were face to face.

Cath lowered her head, trying to hide cheeks that were shiny with streaks of tears behind a chunk of hair that had worked its way loose out of the messy bun that she always wore on the top of her head. "What?" she snapped.

"Please. I just need to talk to you. Hear me out, okay?" Wren pleaded.

To her surprise, Cath pursed her lips and crossed her arms, but at least considered the option. "You'd better have a very good explanation for this."

"Okay, good. Thank you. First things first: you are my sister and I would never do anything that I would know would hurt you if I had the power to stop it."

"Well, not this," Cath snorted.

Wren shot her a pointed look. "Wait until I'm finished, okay?" Cath said nothing, so Wren continued. "I know how much your boy means to you and I would never in any way want to come in between what you two have. Also, I myself would never cheat in a relationship." Wren sighed. "So I guess the point I'm trying to get at is that I never wanted to kiss Levi and this wasn't my fault. I couldn't stop it from happening. I was waiting in your room and Levi came in, he sorta tripped and fell on me. I wasn't strong enough to get him off of me. Since he thought that I was actually you – since he was rather drunk – and he was kinda goofing around and thought that it would be funny to ask me to kiss him before he would stand up. I tried to set him straight. I swear, I honestly tried. But I couldn't seem to change his mind. Before I knew it, he was kissing me and you were in the room."

Cath was silent for a few moments, letting all of that information sink in. "…And that's it?"

"That's it. I swear. The absolute truth."

"Okay…"

"Okay? That's it – just okay? Okay what?" Wren paused and looked into Cath's eyes. "Do you, _could_ you, forgive me?"

"Okay, I'll believe your story, I guess," Cath admitted and Wren immediately threw her arms around Cath, wrapping her into a huge bear-like hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Wren squealed.

"Now, can you just tell me one thing: what were you doing in my room?" Cath said, squinting as she peered at Wren.

Wren's arms dropped back to her side. "I… I need your help. I sent you a few texts, called you a bunch, but you weren't answering…"

"…I lost my phone…" Cath put in.

"…so I decided to go looking for you…"

"…by waiting for me in my room? Wren, just how urgent is this? Are – are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Mostly. Like, physically I'm fine, but I'm on the brink of losing it emotionally," Wren explained.

"Let's sit. I want you to tell me everything." Cath lowered herself onto the Quad lawn and folded her legs under her in a tight cross.

"Well, it's about Alejandro," Wren began, mirroring Cath's actions and then continued, staring off into space. "He… I saw him a few days ago, walking around the Quad with this one other girl. I wouldn't have thought anything of it – I mean, Alejandro has had some other girls that were just his friend – but this seemed different somehow. He was carrying her backpack for her. He doesn't even do that for me! And he had his arm around her shoulders, Cath I don't know what to do."

Cath was silent for a moment. "Did you ask him about it? Maybe there's some kind of explanation. Maybe this was just a misunderstanding. It's got to be."

Wren sighed. "That's what I did. The next time I saw him, I asked him and do you know what he said?! He said that she was "_nobody_". He's cheating on me and I know it." A few tears slipped out of Wren's eyes and trailed down her cheeks. Cath reached out and drew her closer with a comforting hug. "Cath, I know I should break up with him for this, but I can't. I actually really like this guy and I need to set things straight between us, but I have no clue how to do that. I've never done a thing like that before. Whenever it gets tough, I'll just break up with the guy. Plain and simple. But I can't do that to Alejandro. I _need_ him."

When Cath spoke, her voice was even, as if she was hoping to calm Wren down with just her words. "This is what I need you to do, Wren. I need you to find Alejandro, tell him that you're not letting him go until you get an answer from him about who that girl is, and then demand to meet her. If she's just a friend, he won't have any problems introducing the two of you, but if she's more than that, you'll know."

Wren nodded. "Okay. He'll probably back at my dorm. He was supposed to pick me up a few minutes ago."

The concern in Cath's eyes shone. "Do you need me to come with you? Just for a little support?"

"No, I think I'll be fine. You should probably get back to Levi and make sure he's alright." Wren stood up and took a few steps towards her dorm room.

"Good luck!" Cath called and Wren turned back towards her one last time.

"Thanks. And I'm still really, really sorry about what happened between me and Levi."

Cath laughed. "Don't worry about that. I forgive you. Now go get your man!"

* * *

As Wren trekked across the grass, she rehearsed in her head the words that she was going to say to Alejandro. Was she going to be calm about it? No, he would only believe that she didn't truly care what his answer was. That might give him license to lie. Would she shout at him? Maybe even slap him? No, that would only scare him away, although that intensity might scare him back into place. She settled for a reaction somewhere in the middle – she would rush at him, maybe even surprising him a little and then would ask (angrily, of course. Very angrily) _who_ the _hell_ that other girl was. And she wouldn't back down. Not for anything. Wren's jaw set. She was determined to get to the bottom of this.

She threw open the door to her dorm building and ran down the hallway to her room, letting the anger course through her. It was the only way she was going to get through this. Alejandro was going to be set straight. Once and for all.

She turned the corner and almost ran into them. The couple making out in the hallway.

_Alejandro_.

And that other girl.

Wren suddenly felt dizzy and looked around desperately for something to hold onto. It was as if the floor had suddenly fallen out from under her feet. This was what Cath must have felt like when she saw her and Levi, Wren thought. But unlike then, she was certain that this was no accident.

"Alejandro," Wren squeaked.

The couple ripped their faces apart and Alejandro gave her a sheepish smile. "I'm really sorry, Wren. I didn't want you to find out like this. I was going to tell you nicely. Tonight at dinner. But then you weren't in you room and I was waiting for you and…"

"I get it," Wren shot, her voice hollow. "You found another girl. She's prettier than me and no doubt smarter." Her lips pursed. Anger once again found its way back to her as she crept forward and jabbed a finger into the middle of Alejandro's chest. "But get this; I bet she's also a complete bitch. You'll never be able to find someone else like me again." Wren stalked over to the door to her dorm but then turned back to him, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "You deserve her, though. The dick and the bitch – what a charming love story." As soon as she had slammed the door closed behind her, Wren's face crunched up and she began to sob uncontrollably. She couldn't help but to be glad that Courtney was away. It was too embarrassing having other people see her ugly crying face. And over a guy, too. Wren hadn't ever before shed as much as a single tear for a guy in her entire life. It was usually her that was doing the breaking up. Not the other way around.

She crawled onto her bed and when Cath opened the door ten minutes later, she found her lying there, still curled up in a ball.

"Wren? What are you still doing here?" Cath asked. "I thought you had gone out with Alejandro and I'm just returning your phone that you left in my dorm… _Oh my god_. Are you okay? What happened?" Cath set Wren's phone down on her desk and ran over to her side, helping her sit upright and handing her a box of tissues.

"Ale-Alejandro broke up – up with me," Wren hiccupped between sobs.

Cath wrapped Wren into a big hug. "It's going to be fine. You're a strong, independent woman now. You don't need any man."

This only caused Wren to sob some more. "I needed Alejandro."

"No. All you need is an emergency dance party." Cath got up from the bed and walked over to where she had seen Wren's iPod hooked up to the speakers that she had in her room. Wren let a small smile crack through her tears as bad rap music began booming in the room. "Come on, Wren. You know what to do. Just dance it off." Cath pulled at Wren's arms, trying to yank her off the bed.

"Not now, Cath. Okay? I'm just not feeling it." But Wren still wore a slight smile.

"I guess in that case, I'll just have to do all of the dancing for you." Cath started dancing as she walked around the room, mouthing all of the lyrics along to the music. A moon-walk was attempted, and then she leaned forward and tried to flip her hair around in a circle, but only managed to lose her balance and fall onto Wren's bed where the two of them collapsed in a fit of giggles.

"Wren! My stomach hurts too much. I can't stop laughing!" Cath shouted, which only caused them to laugh even harder.

When the laughter subsided, Cath looked over at Wren. "Better?" she asked.

Wren smiled at her. "Much. You were right. I don't need any guy, although I might have to borrow Levi from time to time."

At Cath's stormy response, Wren collapsed into another bought of laughter. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I'm not going to be a bitch like that. I promise."

Cath was unable to hold the glare for much longer and her façade broke down into a grin. "Wren, Wren, Wren…. What am I going to do with you?"

Wren grinned. "You'll just have to tempt me with your epic dance moves."

Cath picked Wren's pillow off of her bed and playfully swatted her with it. "I hate you, Wren!"


End file.
